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Expectations High as NWHL Begins New Era in Women’s Hockey

By Tony Lee - Special to USAHockey.com, 10/08/15, 2:15PM MDT

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The NWHL starts play this weekend as the first all-women’s paid pro league

It is no secret that women’s hockey in the United States has grown tremendously in the past two decades. Another step in the continuation of that growth is the launch of the inaugural season of the National Women’s Hockey League and the opportunity it provides for existing players, who will now be able to continue their careers and help inspire the next generation of talented players in the U.S.

The NWHL, which is the first all-women’s paid professional league, will skate four teams — the Boston Pride, the Buffalo Beauts, the Connecticut Whale and the New York Riveters — loaded with some of the biggest names in the sport. Most notably for the U.S., there are many players with ties to the national team program.

Many feel that those national ties — and what is expected to be a skilled, intense style of hockey in the NWHL — will fuel another boost in recognition and the country’s overall level of play.

“In other leagues in the past, it seemed to me that you could have five Olympians on a team, and then there was a more drastic drop off since the next tier of players were getting away from the game and not continuing their careers,” said Molly Engstrom, a two-time Olympian, who has come out of retirement to play for the Whale. “I’ve already noticed that it’s raised the level of the overall game and it’s just going to continue to grow.

“The level of play in the NCAA has grown so much and to such a high level that seeing these kids, great NCAA players, move and pass the puck the way they are capable is really exciting.”

One of those younger players looking to make a splash for the Beauts is Hayley Williams, who is on the other end of the Olympic spectrum. She is in the process of finishing college and is excited that the next step in her life can involve hockey. That hasn’t always been the case for college or national stars as they try, sometimes unsuccessfully, to stay connected to the game after college.

“I think that the mentality of women’s hockey before this league came along was that your career was over once you were done with college,” said Williams, who has starred twice for the U.S. squads at World University Games. “There’s still so much potential to continue playing, and for the physical body … as an athlete, you can peak at 28 years old, so it’s great to see that we can continue our careers and actually keep active in the competitive sense, and make a little money doing it.”

USA Hockey has had an immediate impact on the league with 14 of the league’s 72 players who are current members of the national team program. In addition, Engstrom and two others — Jillian Dempsey and Sam Faber — previously competed for the USWNT, and 13 more players have represented the U.S. on the Under-22, Under-18 or World University Games teams. More than 50 players overall are American.

“This group, and all of the players who have come through USA Hockey, will make a significant impact and help strengthen the overall group of players for our inaugural season,” NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan said.

Shelley Looney, also a two-time U.S. Olympian and a former star with Vancouver of a prior women’s league that operated from 1999-2007 in Canada, will co-coach for Buffalo. She recognizes the merit of this U.S.-based circuit for players — particularly those wishing to stay in-country or close to home.

Through limited practices and one exhibition game, Looney already sees a high level of competition and can envision its long-term benefits on the home front.

“Success not only means players getting better, it makes it more competitive for the people who make the national team, and that just takes hockey to an even at a higher level,” she said. “You won’t lose people in the cracks.”

The financial implications for players wishing to continue competing in the past, has had a lot to do with losing players in the cracks, and some expressed hope that salaries can reach a point where the bulk of them can bid adieu to other part- or full-time jobs, at least while playing. Engstrom, for one, is committed to her role as the assistant athletic director at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H. She said that all of her teammates have something on the side to make ends meet while playing an 18-game schedule spread over the course of four-plus months.

The former University of Wisconsin star, who hung up her skates in 2013, navigated a diverse stretch over the past two years. She spent seven months in Maui and then earned a master's degree in sports administration at the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Then came a call that led to the job at Kimball Union and a more settled lifestyle.

She figured she would never play competitively again, and even when the NWHL was announced Engstrom was initially skeptical of the idea of participating. Several months later, a call from Whale general manager Harry Rosenholtz changed her mind.

Now Engstrom is excited to be a part of a collection of talent that provides the appropriate competition level that will also serve the national program well.

“Having been a national team player in this type of a league … there were only a certain amount of people that could push you to the level you needed to be pushed in a practice,” she said. “Now that you have these national team players surrounded by players that can really push them, it’s only going to make the level of the game higher and it’s only going to make everyone better.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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